If you’ve been to your local Barnes and Noble recently, you’ve probably had a sneak peak at the Playaway, stopped to think about it, and either bought the concept and consequently, the book, or moved on. For those of you who moved on, read on (no pun intended).
For this review, I had the opportunity to play with The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Kidz Bop. The first is the full and unabridged version of Bill Bryson’s memoir and the second is a collection of 20 songs “sung by kids for kids.” I loved the memoir.
Down to the nitty gritty. The Playaway is an audio player with pre-loaded content. I found that its a great traveling companion (no surprise there) and it would be a great accessory to take on a road trip. In the package you’ll find the actual player, a set of headphones, landyard (for easy transport) and the accompanying batteries. The batteries are easy to change and the controls, located at the back of the unit, are easy to understand. The player will even act as a personal bookmark, remembering at which chapter you’ve stopped listening.
It’s small, it’s convenient and it’s shorter, although not thinner, than an iPOD. Let’s face it though, the Playway is just another MP3 player. Sure, it’s also more manageable than an iPOD (as there’s no need to rip content!) and it comes already charged, since it just runs off the AAA battery included in the kit. It’s an easy, ready to go device. However, you can probably buy two paperback books or multiple eBooks for the price of the Playaway’s one. Retailing at approximately $30 a piece, Playaway is a tad too expensive to be a viable alternative to your everyday MP3 player.
Controls:
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equalizer button to adjust the bass and treble
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fast forward buttons/chapter selection
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volume controls.